STATE ORAL INTERP: SPEAKING OF SUPERIOR …

Kristina Sage was the oral interpretation coach at Freeman Public Schools when Thor Aanenson cut his teeth on the fine arts elective that puts participants in front of audiences — and judges — with nothing but words and emotion to share. And she realized quickly that, like his older brother, Tryg, Thor had a gift.

“He started with a solid foundation of essential skills, as well as the invaluable support of his family, which provided a strong base for growth,” said Sage, who left her career at Freeman Public earlier this year to take a job as an assistant executive director with the South Dakota High School Activities Association. “What stands out the most to me is his commitment to improvement and openness to feedback.”

That resulted in his first state superior his freshman year of 2022, two more as a sophomore in 2023, and Aanenson locked up top honors twice more last week at Sturgis Brown High School.

Just like last year, the junior won superiors in the categories of Humorous Reading and Non-Original Oratory at the festival held over two full days Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6 and 7. And he wasn’t the only local orator to strike gold.

The Freeman Academy Reader’s Theatre team of Madelyn Anderson, Jada Buse, Benjamin Clark, Arianne Fink, Jax Kaufman and Armando Miller and also retuned with a superior, as did Marion sophomore Harli Ross in the category of Storytelling and Menno sophomore Ervin Schrock in Serious Reading.

Local schools were also represented by the Marion Reader’s Theatre Team of Ross, Claire Donlan, Domani Butler, Avery Thomas, Kolter Schmidt and Bailey Hernandez; Freeman sophomore Claire Loofbourrow in Storytelling; and Marion’s Thomas and Bulter in Duet Interpretation.

More on Aanenson

Like Sage, first-year head oral interpretation coach Nancy Loofbourrow has seen firsthand the skill that has now earned Aanenson five state oral interpretation medals in three seasons.

“Thor is a talented student to coach,” she said. “I love that he’s so capable and yet so willing to continue growing as a speaker. He also brings a thoughtful, analytical mind to the process of developing a character — he adds layers that bring depth that comes off as effortless. I’m excited for next year!”

Sage was in the room again last week — not as a coach but as a SDHSAA administrator — when Aanenson won in Humorous Reading “The Party” by Allie Brosh and for “The Unheard Story of David and Goliath” written by Malcolm Gladwell and presented as a TED Talk in New York City in 2013.

“It has been fun to see Thor develop remarkable skills in oral interpretation over the past few years,” says Sage. “Thor has not only become more confident in his performances but has also enhanced use of expression and performance techniques.

“It is clear that Thor has a genuine passion for the craft, which makes it so enjoyable for his audience!”

For Aanenson, there is some poetry in that he won his second state medal of 2024 — and fifth overall — on “The Unheard Story of David and Goliath,” which takes a fresh look at just how and why the little guy won.

He actually presented a scaled-down version of the piece his eighth grade season.

“This piece resonates with me because I’m somebody who isn’t always big and strong, but isn’t necessarily at a disadvantage because of it,” Aanenson said. “Sometimes people like that — people like me — have the upper hand, and that’s awesome.”

Aanenson’s other piece presented at last week state festival was less profound but equally engaging in that it takes a humorous look at a little boy pleading for permission to attend his best friend’s birthday party following an oral surgery that morning.

“The kid tries to convince his mom that he’s completely OK to go to the party when it’s obvious he’s not,” he explains. “It’s just a lot of fun to do.”

Aaneson also noted how oral interpretation gives him an opportunity to take part in an extra-curricular that doesn’t always get the same kind of glory as, say, athletics.

“It’s special to me as someone who maybe isn’t as athletic because it allows me to excel in something that’s going to be super useful to me in life late,” he said. “And it allows me to delve into these fun stories about how David has the upper hand, or how a little boy just wants to go to a birthday party and do it to the best of my ability.”

Finishing strong

Clara Beseman, the second-year oral interpretation coach at Freeman Academy, admits there was some disappointment following the Region 2B competition in Mitchell Nov. 19. Of the five performances that had survived at the district level the week before, only the Reader’s Theatre team moved on to state.

That the team’s performance of “Mythically Mythical Myths” — a portrayal of four Greek myths — won top honors last week in Sturgis offered a bit of redemption.

“We had a rough region meet with a number of pieces we were hoping to advance that didn’t,” said Beseman. “So it was nice to end the season on a high note and gain a little confidence back. We knew we deserved to be there, so it really meant a lot.

The piece itself, a 10-minute cut from a 30-minute one-act play by Jon Jory, came at the request of the seniors on the team who remember Freeman Academy doing it when they were in middle school.

“They found it really funny and were the ones who suggested it,” says the coach, “and we made it happen.”

The Reader’s Theatre team from Freeman Academy performs “Mythically Mythical Myths” at the 2024 State Oral Interpretation Festival in Sturgis Friday morning, Dec. 6. The team of (from left) Jax Kaufman, Jada Buse, Arianne Fink, Ben Clark, Armando Miller and Madelyn Anderson won a superior for their performance.

Schrock’s shock – and relief

Emotional.

That is perhaps the best way to describe Ervin Schrock’s first-ever State Oral Interpretation Festival in Sturgis last week. Not only did the Menno sophomore pour her heart and soul into “Just Listen” — a gut-wrenching piece about a mother who goes insane after losing her baby — but she dealt with an aftermath that was nothing short of a rollercoaster.

During the announcement of Saturday afternoon’s awards following the fifth and final session of the two-day festival, Schrock was shocked that her name wasn’t called as the superior winners in the Serious Reading category were announced.

“I was really confident in my performance and thought I did really well,” she says. “So I was devastated. Blindsided. Confused. Very bummed.”

Schrock left Sturgis Brown High School that evening thinking she missed out on a top honor she felt she deserved, only to learn later that a mistake had been made. Schrock’s coach, Betsy Knodel, had been going over the critique sheets and called her student at her hotel room with news.

“She was like, ‘hold on, this says you were supposed to get a superior.’”

Sure enough. Her cumulative score of 20 fell in line with the criteria for a top honor, and Schrock’s name was, in fact, on the list. But the person making the announcement at the awards inadvertently skipped over it — something Brooks Bowman, an assistant executive director with the SDHSAA, confirmed Sunday morning.

“I’m just grateful that I got a superior,” Schrock said on Monday. “I was bummed at first about not being able to walk across the stage and receive my medal or be pictured with the other winners. There’s. little bit of hurt with that, but I’m just glad it turned out like it did.”

Menno sophomore Ervin Schrock performs “Just Listen” in the category of Serious Reading last Saturday afternoon. Schrock was disappointed when her name wasn’t read during the awards announcements later that day, but learned the following morning that her name — even though it was on the list of winners — had been inadvertently skipped over.

Ross’ rebound

Unlike Freeman Academy’s Reader’s Theatre team, the group from Marion’s outstanding performance in the same category was not deserving of a top honor — at least according to the three judge’s whose cumulative scores tell the tale of the tape.

And it didn’t sit well.

Linda Luke, Marion’s oral interpretation coach, said the team was left wondering what the judges were looking for — and watching — while Harli Ross told The Courier that she and the other five orators were disappointed following Friday morning’s awards.

“We were all a little disappointed and a little bit confused with what was wrong with our performances,” Ross said. “I know it’s a subjective science and all about what the judges think, but, in my opinion, we did the best we could and deserved (a superior).”

Marion didn’t come home empty-handed, however, thanks to Ross and her presentation of “Right Number, Wrong Person” in Storytelling later that evening, which the judges deemed worthy of a medal.

“I thought it was one of the best performances I had done so far,” said the sophomore, who has been competing in oral interpretation since middle school and earned her first state superior last year as part of Marion’s Reader’s Theatre team. She also competed in Non-Original Oratory her freshman season.

Ross chose to go off script for the first time during her performance at state, “and it went well,” she said. “I was excited and glad that all my hard work paid off, and that the judges felt as good about my performance as I did, and as my family and friends did.”

“Right Number, Wrong Person” by Jaime Ruff tells the sad story about a man who starts getting calls on a new cell phone from a stranger — an elderly woman looking for somebody named Shawn. The number to the man’s cell phone once belonged to somebody else, the audience learns, and it was only after he stopped getting the calls from the woman that he realized she had passed away, and that Shawn was her 21-year-old son who had died in a car accident two years earlier.

“It was a little emotional doing it,” Ross said. “I had practiced it a lot to get the emotion of the piece right.”

And she noted that this year’s pre-selected topic for Storytelling was love.

“This one was love,” Ross said, “and I found it an interesting way to talk about the topic.”

Even though Ross’ piece was the only of Marion’s three to medal in Sturgis last week, Luke said their state festival contingent is indicative of a strong theatrical culture at the school.

“These are a great bunch of kids,” Luke said. “They love this and they’re so mature for their age. There are so many conflicts — these kids are involved with so many other things — but they always find time to come and practice.

“I’m really proud of the fact that they take time to come to me and say, ‘Can we practice today?’ or ‘Can we come at 7 tonight?’” the coach continues. “It’s their commitment that makes this work.”

Said Ross: “We will be back.”

Above: Harli Ross — pictured with Claire Donlan during Marion’s Reader’s Theatre presentation at state last Friday morning — brought home top honors in the category of Storytelling later in the day. “I was excited and glad that all my hard work paid off, and that the judges felt as good about my performance as I did, and as my family and friends did,” said the sophomore.